Hello everybody! My name is Michael and I am a college student who is completely new to the incredibly exciting world of mnemonics! Learning has always been something I have been really fascinated by and passionate about, so now that I have finally stumbled into this amazing world of memory championships and mnemonics, needless to say, I am both super excited and somewhat overwhelmed in wanting to get started.
I am really very interested into exploring every facet of mnemonics and would eventually like to start memorizing decks and numbers and faces, but I figured I would first start trying to look at some practical implementations of mnemonic devices in my life. One of the most obvious areas that I feel this could help in are in school.
I am a trivia fanatic/geek and captain of my school’s Quiz Bowl team, but I am really looking to take my game to the next level. I am trying to place high this year at nationals, and maybe even put my team in a position to win its first national championship. In order to do this, it is going to take A LOT of hard work, but perhaps to even a greater degree, it will require me to work smart and use the most effective studying techniques available to me. While I am sure I am not the only quiz bowler to utilize mnemonics, I think it could give me a fairly unique advantage if I were to fully immerse myself in the world of mnemonics and use the tried and proven techniques used by memory champions worldwide.
Being completely new to mnemonics, I am having a hard time figuring out where to start in applying memory techniques to quiz bowl. I feel like I could use the very popular method of loci/memory palace technique to memorize/acquire list knowledge such as U.S Presidents, countries and capitals, English Monarchs, Russian Tsars, Nobel Prize Winners, ect. But for memorizing items that are not sequential/chronological, I am not sure where to start.
As an example, here is a sample question from a tournament:
1.As Governor of Cilicia, this man gained the title of imperator for fighting off the “free Cilicians.” By arguing for the Manilian Law, this man gave his support for Pompey to take command against Mithridates. The letters this man wrote to his friends, especially Atticus, are an important source for his time. This man rose to prominence by indicting the corrupt governor of Sicily, Gaius Verres. This man’s severed hands and head were nailed to the Rostra when he was proscribed in vengeance for inveighing against Marc Antony in the Philippics. For 10 points, name this great Roman orator who, as consul, foiled the conspiracy of Catiline.
ANSWER: Marcus Tullius Cicero [or Tully]
Obviously I am not looking to memorize this entire paragraph, just encode useful chunks of information to memory and be able to have cued recall.
For instance, what would be the best method for me to memorize the following about him:
- imperator – fought off the “free Cicilians”
- argued for Manilian Law
- wrote letters to Atticus
- indicted Gaius Verres
- foiled the conspiracy of Cataline
And memorize these items so that if they come up in a question, hearing them will cue the recall of “Cicero” so that I can buzz in and respond accordingly? Any tips, tricks, or guidance would be enormously, and greatly appreciated. I am really excited to become a student of memory…just need a little direction. Also, if any of you use mnemonics for trivia and have any different approaches other than the ones I am thinking about, feel free to add your two cents.
Thanks everyone!